Welcome back to the COG
by S-Bumblebee
Summary: Dom breaks Marcus out of the slam, told in the perspectives of Marcus, Dom, Hoffman and Anya. Rated T Some Strong Language
1. Marcus Fenix

This is my first Fanfiction so go easy on me XD I hope you like it and I'd appreciate any comments or advice you may have to help me improve, or if you spot any mistakes. Thanks

Copyrights: All characters belong to Epic Games studios and Gears of War

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The brush with the Corpser had been close...real close, Dom and Marcus had only just managed to jump into the King Raven before the ground belched open revealing the dangerous and vicious creature that had seemed hell bent on their demise. Now all Marcus could hear were the repetitive sounds of the helicopter rotors as the King Raven pilots transported them across Sera and within Marcus's mind, him away from the penitentiary. Dom had busted him out, Marcus was more thankful for that than he knew he could express, four years he had spent incarcerated there, four years too long even though it was only four of forty years he'd been sentenced to serve. Four years of darkness, four years of taunts and abuse from guards, four years worth of scars gained, and that wasn't even the worst of it, he sighed inwardly as his mind reassured him that it was four years he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

Marcus took a few deep breaths, relishing in the fresh and decontaminated air that rushed into his lungs, soul cleansing compared to the dank and death smelling air of the prison. The squad leader, Lieutenant Kim was it? Offered a flask of water and it was taken without hesitation, just the feel of cool fresh water down his throat was a pleasure he couldn't compare to anything right then. Fine he'd managed to get water in the prison, but compared to this it might as well have been sewage he'd been drinking there; no what passed his lips now was pure heaven in a flask compared to the muck he had been surviving on.

Then the Lieutenant spoke to him while he watched the kid with the helmet shoot out of the side of the chopper

"Welcome to Delta squad"

Welcome? _Ha _he said it like he'd just been transferred from another squad not busted out of jail where Hoffman had left him to rot after letting everyone else go. Damn he couldn't bust the guy for not being polite, though he could tell from the look of the guy that he was a definite rule book follower, not just sticking to the rules but the sort that lived by them like everything else in life was garbage. It was all well and good Marcus thought to himself, but sometimes rules and orders needed to be flexed for people to survive and objectives to be made, but hell who was he to think like that, not ten minutes ago he was serving a sentence for dereliction of duty, he had no room to talk.

"Where are we going?" He found himself asking

"Embry Square...Colonel Hoffman is waiting for us" was the reply

"Hoffman...aww shit" Just what he needed, Colonel Hoffman in his face reminding him of what he did. How much damage he'd caused when he had left his post to try to save his Father...to no avail, like he needed reminding, like he hadn't thought and re-thought about it during all this time. The guy was going to rip him a new one and he knew it. He barely heard Dom beside him

"This is gonna be Awesome"

_Yeah right_ he thought to himself

That crazy kid was still popping bullets out of the Raven and wasting ammo at that, like he could actually kill anything from this height. Marcus's thoughts on what kind of reception Hoffman was going to give him was interrupted as the kid twisted in his seat to talk to him.

"Hey, are you The Marcus Fenix? The one that fought at Aspho Fields?"

Damn...that was a whole bunch of memories he didn't want to drag up right now, and the way he'd said it made his stomach churn uncomfortably. '_The Marcus Fenix'_. Like he was something special...like he was a hero, despite whatever pedestal people liked to slap him on because of Aspho, Marcus believed he was no hero, and he cringed whenever he heard it. He just wasn't worth it, not to his mind anyway.

"Yep" That was all he could manage, what else was there to say?

"Wow Cool!" The tone said it all to Marcus, the tone that said awe. What was there to be in awe of? He'd done nothing special, hell he couldn't even save his damn best friend and everything but blood brother...Carlos. And here he was sitting next to his other best friend and Carlos's younger brother, he'd failed Carlos but he wouldn't fail Dom, not while he was still breathing...he'd made a promise.

"Not really" and he looked away while those unpleasant memories pecked at his conscious, and he prayed internally that they'd find some locust soon for him to kill and take his mind away from the past.

Marcus looked out of the side of the Raven after that, spotting another settled in a clearing with the all too familiar figure of Colonel Victor Hoffman waiting for theirs to land.

The chopper landed and Marcus ensured he was the first to get out, he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible, but damn the man...no sooner was he on the ground armour clunking heavily in protest, than Hoffman was in his face, snarling expression and death's head cap in his wake. _Shit_.

"You! A traitor like you doesn't deserve to wear the uniform"

Huh yeah maybe not but you're not exactly brimming with options, does he really think I believe I deserve to be wearing it either? But then the COG's got plenty of blood on its hands, a little bit of mine isn't going to make any difference...especially if I can get the job done.

"Looks to me like you need all the help you can get"

"Step aside" Yeah you know I'm right, not like you have any choice

Then the Colonel wandered off with Lieutenant Kim and Marcus only caught a bit of their conversation as they walked in the opposite direction

"Lieutenant...I've got good news...We have a plan to end this war, once and for all"

Marcus was out of the loop in terms of what the grubs were doing at the moment and how the COG were handling it, but he knew enough and Dom confirmed the rest

"Huh Yeah Right"

Then he heard her

"Sensors are picking up enemy movement...sir, close by" and there she was, Anya Stroud, stepping down carefully out of Hoffman's Raven. He hadn't even seen her up until that point, hell he hadn't seen her for four God Damn years.

She looked different...older, though stopped him in his tracks just like she always used to. He remembered that night after they'd collected their Embry Stars, remembered how formal and awful that dinner had been that his Father had insisted on, remembered seeing her in a new light after the shy and overshadowed Anya was replaced with a firm and confident Anya. They had gotten close after that point, then he was thrown in the slab and everything changed, he had insisted that she didn't visit, he didn't want her going into a hell hole like that, and he didn't want her to see him there either. He was ashamed of it, was that such a surprise? He didn't even want Dom visiting. Both had sent him letters though, only a few reached his eyes and Anya's neat hand writing had given him small moments of feeling and peace, even within those solid steel walls and even with wretches clanging on the bars above his head.

Normally he could keep his face in that well practiced blank expression but right then his face betrayed him and he couldn't help the look on his face when he saw her. She was beautiful still, like he'd think that would change somehow, but even though she was probably the same Anya he'd always known, he didn't want her to look at him. He wasn't even a day out of prison, he wasn't worthy of her eyes, he was dirty and he was ashamed and there was a whole mass of emotion in there that he was fighting with, pushing it back to the recesses of his mind where he would no doubt churn on it later. He couldn't work out what the expression she adorned was; he didn't really want to know, but before he could really think about it he saw her turn her head and then saw the bullets flying. At last...he had his grubs.

Hoffman and Kim were sprayed with bullets but none hit, they were threat shots, designed to intimidate, damn these grubs didn't know who they were starting on today. Marcus stood long enough to watch Anya clamber back into the Raven and assure himself that she was safely in cover before he decided to show the locust just who they were dealing with. All that anger, frustration, self loathing and hatred was going to come out now and the locusts were going to be on the receiving end every time...he had a score to settle.

He chucked himself into cover as if he'd never stopped being a Gear, he could slide into it no problem, heck we're talking about years of ingraining and fine tuning from the combat he'd experienced in the Pendulum wars as well as the years after E-day...you didn't lose instincts like those over night, no matter where you'd spent them.

Standing up when he saw the opportunity he dropped two drones, one from each side, left to right and back again before dropping back into the sanctuary of his sandbag cover. Numbly he could hear Hoffman debrief Delta's squad leader, that wasn't his concern right now, he had drones to kill. An explosion jarred his teeth and he issued a warning

"Watch the sides" He didn't want an unnoticed frag to finish him or any of his new squad just yet, that's when he realised he was going to fight, do whatever it took to finish this.

"Now I'm pissed" He'd forgotten just how hard it was to bring these humanoid monsters down, and a couple of close calls were starting to try his patience as yet more bullets riddled the sandbags. Again another opportunity presented itself and he lifted to his feet with heavy determination, again firing from left to right and back and bringing down two more drones

"Oh Yeah!"

More firing from Dom and the kid...Carmine? Yet those drones were still coming and exploding the air around his cover

"How much can they take?" It was a rhetorical question that only the magazine clip in his Lancer assault rifle could answer, coupled with his will power.

That was it, he'd had enough and he wanted this little ambush finished

"Down to two!" then for the final time he raised to his feet and fired a barrage from one set of stairs to the other dropping the final two locust, blood spewing as they finally fell and silence ensued.

"All Clear"

He caught the last bit of Hoffman's debriefing, Anya was going to be staying with them and giving them Intel, so he was going to keep hearing that voice, he wouldn't be able to hide from that part of the past today. Maybe if he actually managed to live through this after being dropped well and truly in it, he might catch up with her, but what the hell was he going to say?

Before he could think more on it, Hoffman was back

"I expect you to give me 110% Fenix!"

"I'm not doing this for you"

No he wasn't, what was he doing it for? Redemption...no, he'd made his choice he'd gone to save his Father because he believed it was the right thing to do. No, he was doing it for Dom, he'd busted him out of jail, and Marcus was determined to keep an eye on his younger brother, he had a promise to keep. Anya...maybe he was doing it for her too, he'd work it out sooner or later, but right now he was contented in telling Hoffman...that there was no way in hell he was doing it for him.


	2. Dominic Santiago

Dom sat back in the King Raven, glancing out of the open sides and realising as he always did when travelling in the helicopters, just how destroyed the planet really was. He remembered the hammer strikes all those years ago, remembered how the world had lost colour with nothing but a grey curtain where life and vibrancy had been. The worst part was that it had been the COG that had done it, it had destroyed masses of the population in order to save a small part of it, and even now the small part of it was struggling against the onslaught the locust kept providing. So many lives had been lost and were still being lost, Gears, civilians both from the Hammer strikes and from the war, everyone was grieving...everyone, himself included.

His first major loss had been his older brother Carlos back in the Pendulum wars, all he knew was that he had died blowing a bridge and that Marcus had never been the same after, he'd tried to ask what had happened but Marcus would never breach the subject, and Dom didn't want to push. The next had been such a large extent of loss that he had practically thought he was dead as well. Emergence day had seen the death of his parents as well as his two young children, so much loss within such a small timeframe had shattered him, but he pulled through it...for Maria. After the kids had died she suffered with heavy depression, he'd tried his best to help her through it, sometimes it seemed she was making progress, but one day he came home on leave and she just simply wasn't there, and now he searched for her endlessly, thrusting a picture of her and himself in the face of every stranded he laid eyes upon. They had connections everywhere, he would find her eventually, he was determined to...it's what's kept him alive.

Then there was Marcus, in a way Dom had lost his honorary brother... forty years at the maximum security penitentiary was basically a slow death sentence, it was well known that life expectancy for an inmate was only a few years, and that was before the locust took it over. Dom thought back to that point, he'd done as much as he could to keep Marcus out of there, managing only to keep him away from a death sentence but still losing him to an extensive prison sentence. That had all changed now, Hoffman had pardoned everyone, well everyone except Marcus, Dom still couldn't understand Hoffman's actions...it wasn't the Colonel he knew and had served with. Dom had made a point of splitting up from his squad to go and bust Marcus out, they'd tried to stop him but nothing was going to, he was going to get his brother out of that cess pit, heck it wasn't like they couldn't do with an extra gun on the field.

When he'd clapped eyes on Marcus he had been pretty surprised, Marcus was slimmer than he remembered him being, though he was still muscular which led Dom to ponder on what exactly Marcus had been through or had to have done in here. Not just that but the large pitted scar that ran from his temple to his jaw as well as branching off to cut through his mouth...how in the hell had he managed to get a scar like that? Dom's imagination was filling in the gaps continuously, he knew Marcus wasn't going to talk about it, not straight away anyway, and his imagination was being fed and not in the positive sense as they opened a door to find dismembered and mutilated corpses hanging from the ceiling, as well as blood and bloody footprints in every corner.

"_What the hell has been going on in this prison?"_

"_You don't want to know"_

Marcus was right, he probably didn't want to know but that didn't quench his curiosity.

Now they were heading to Embry square and Dom felt a lot better about this mission they were going on knowing that Marcus would be beside him. He just hoped Marcus still had it, after four years in prison he had to be a bit rusty, but he'd held his own as they fought their way out of the prison. In a way Dom found it unnerving just how easily Marcus slipped back into being a Gear, but the more he thought about it, just as Hoffman's Raven came into view, Dom realised that's what Marcus is, he's a Gear... always will be, you can't take that away from a man no matter where he's been.

Then they landed, Dom couldn't help but try and stifle a little bit of excitement, the reunion between Marcus and Hoffman was going to be an explosive one, though to Dom's surprise their little standoff hadn't been as volatile as he'd been expecting. Maybe somewhere in Hoffman there was a little piece of regret at leaving Marcus to die in that hole, either way he let Marcus off light compared to what he could have said or done, and Dom watched as Hoffman spoke to their Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant, I've got good news...we have a plan to end this war once and for all"

"Huh, Yeah Right" Dom found himself saying...that would just be too good to be true and they've already tried so many other things and failed, they still couldn't stop them from coming out of the ground.

"Sensors are picking up enemy movement...sir, close by" that was Anya dropping out of Hoffman's King Raven

Dom couldn't help but smile at Marcus's reaction, it was a picture in its self and Dom knew that Marcus had gotten close to Anya before he'd been sent to the slam. Anya's face was a picture as well, she must have known Marcus would be here, Hoffman had been informed that he had gone off to get Marcus, maybe she had just been curious...maybe she had to prove to herself that he really was there. Dom had seen her after Marcus was sentenced, she held up on the outside but he knew deep down she was hurting somewhere. It was too soon to tell how these two old friends of his were going to be with each other but Dom hoped that they might just slip back into how they had been before all of the mess of Marcus's trial, surely if he could slip back into being a Gear, he could slip back into his friendships just as easily. He had with Dom.

Before Dom could open up any dialogue with either of them gunfire thundered around Hoffman and Kim and everyone automatically went for cover, though he and Marcus watched Anya duck and jump into the chopper before they dived into the cover of a pile of sandbags. Adrenaline surged through his veins as he fired his Lancer over the bags and at the ambushing locust, dropping a couple as they ran down the stairs.

"To the Right!" Marcus had called and Dom obliged focusing his aim on the drones that came down that side, and catching Marcus stand up and fire from the corner of his eye. Man the guy had a score to settle

Marcus continued to call directions as more and more locust drones poured down the steps, and an explosion rang in his ears for a second as a frag landed nearby, detonating and sending debris all over where Hoffman and Kim were quickly conversing.

"You missed!" Dom heard himself shout, those drones really had lousy aims, but even so a couple of shots had parted the air beside him and he realised just how vulnerable his head was without a helmet like Carmine's.

The battle scene was sharp against his vision as he continued to hit the locust and he finally dropped a couple more

"Got one" Yeah man come on I can take ya

Marcus stood up again and only just sat back down behind cover as more explosions assaulted their sandbags

"Up there!" Dom called, that was where the grenadier was, if they didn't take him down soon they were going to lose their faces from a grenade

"How much can they take?" Marcus asked, Dom knew it was rhetorical though as Marcus peered over the bags to get a better look

"Down to four" Dom was keeping track of how many were left, though he caught the ends of Hoffman's debriefing

"What are you kidding me? You are the support son!"

Damn no air support...we've got to move in on foot "We're screwed"

"Down to two!" That was Marcus, just as Dom and Anthony managed to take down two more between them, though Marcus clearly had dibs on the last two as he stood up and fired left to right

"All clear"

Anya was going to be their Intel officer as well, that wasn't so bad Dom supposed, she knew what she was doing, she was one of the best Comms officers they had left, though Dom wasn't sure how Marcus might feel about it.

"The smart thing to do right now, would be to leave" Anya had said still crouched in the shelter of the Raven

Dom felt a smile from that, she had a sense of humour even when they had just been hit by an ambush, he guessed she needed to though, after all she was the lifeline of every Gear she was in charge of, if she lost it they probably would to.

Slowly He pulled himself up from behind the sandbags, Marcus already well ahead of him

"That was satisfying"

Dom found that amusing too, it probably was, Marcus was bound to have a lot bottled up that he had to get out somehow and it looked like dropping locust was going to be one of the main methods.

Hoffman marched over then after he had finished with Kim

"I expect you to give me 110% Fenix!"

"I'm not doing this for you"

That was Marcus alright


	3. Colonel Hoffman

Hoffman pressed his finger to his ear, activating the little radio earpiece that resided there

"Repeat that Lieutenant" He asked hoarsely

"Private Santiago has gone to retrieve Marcus Fenix, Sir"

Hoffman ground his teeth at that, that's what he thought he had heard but he had to check just to make sure he hadn't heard wrong

"Copy that...We will rendezvous with you at Embry Square and you'll receive your orders"

"Wilco, Delta out"

A grumble escaped him as he mashed his teeth again, how could Kim let Dom wander off to bust his buddy out of his cell. Fenix was a damned traitor, but then again Dominic's actions hadn't surprised him, not after everything he tried to do to stop Marcus from being sentenced. Hoffman had even heard that Dom had sold his Embry Star...yeah it was just a materialistic representation of what he'd done at Aspho, but still...on those thoughts Hoffman was reminded of the day the Stars had been handed out. He himself was awarded one; Lieutenant Stroud who sat opposite him fiddling nervously with her hands had received one in honour of her mother Major Helena Stroud as well. Aside from them both Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago had received one each, but it had been Fenix that had struck him the most. He remembered seeing the man dig a small hole at the base of Carlos Santiago's tomb stone, had seen him place his own Embry Star in the dirt and cover it over...it had hit him like a slap in the face. Had that been the same man he helped convict during that trial, the man he had given evidence against, the man he had left to die not so many hours ago?

Hoffman pulled off his cap and ran a hand over his shaven scalp before replacing his cap, automatically lining up the deaths head with his nose. He decided it didn't matter, not right now...the man was a traitor and until proven otherwise he wasn't going to change his opinion, he just found it hard to accept the fact that the hero of Aspho was the same man who had abandoned his post and lost them so much ground and men to boot.

Shifting in his seat he turned to peer at one of the pilots

"How long until we reach Embry Square?" Hoffman noticed the irony in that...four Embry Star awardees were reuniting at Embry square, the past really was determined today.

"Fifteen minutes, sir"

He nodded his head to show he had heard and turned back to face inside the Raven, Anya Stroud was clearly uncomfortable, she must have heard that Marcus was going to be there. Hoffman observed her for a few moments; she was just staring blankly out of the helicopter, eyes never really seeing anything out there. Hoffman knew she had an interest in Fenix, more of an interest than her profession would allow her to have, but it was there none the less and Hoffman realised that she hadn't seen the man for four years, he'd spent that in prison...she probably didn't know what to expect, on the other hand what must she think of him for being willing to leave the man in the slab while he let every other criminal go?

Their chopper landed at last in the centre of Embry square, and he jumped out with little hesitation striding out from under the blades and away from his Raven's surrounding area so that he wouldn't be beaten by the down draft. The Lieutenant remained in the helicopter, busying herself with some of the maps they had with them, the ones she was memorizing, though he hadn't told her she had to.

Finally Delta's King Raven broke the horizon and came to land around ten metres in front of him, and he mentally prepared himself for meeting Fenix face to face. Fenix had jumped out first and Hoffman decided not to even give him a chance and was immediately in his face. Anger, resentment and loss of all the respect he'd ever gained from the Aspho hero blurting out within one sentence.

"You! A traitor like you doesn't deserve to wear the uniform" No he didn't, the COG didn't stand for cowardice, he'd caused so much loss of life and ground from his actions he'd practically doomed them all. That wasn't the sort of behaviour or action he expected from his Gears, they were more than that...right now Fenix wasn't, not in his eyes.

"Looks to me like you need all the help you can get" Smug Asshole, but Hoffman couldn't deny it; they really did need all of the help they could get their hands on, every gun counted. The fact of Fenix being a traitor or not was beside the point in a world where they didn't know if they would survive to tomorrow. Hoffman would take his help, it wasn't like he had a choice, but he decided he had a choice of whether he had to look at him or not, and right now he wanted him out of his sight.

"Step Aside"

He had a job to do and standing here berating Fenix wasn't on the agenda, he had to debrief Delta's squad leader and make sure they got this all important mission done...it could mean the very survival of humanity.

"Lieutenant...I've got good news...we have a plan to end this war once and for all" At least that's what he hoped...hope...it was a strange and dangerous thing all too often snatched away from you, but he had to be optimistic, humanity was going to pull through this somehow.

"Sensors are picking up enemy movement...sir, close by" Great...that's all he needed grubs turning up right this minute but knowing them they probably would, no sooner than he had resided himself to that fact, bullets danced across the floor in front of him. Naturally and by instinct he ducked down and made for cover Kim not far behind him, and the rest of Delta grabbing cover at the sand bags beside theirs. Here we go.

He didn't have time to lose, he had to make sure the Lieutenant had all the information he needed in order to increase his chances of success. He better off start with the obvious and the optimistic before he dropped his little bomb shell.

"We now have the Light-Mass bomb! It'll take out all these bastards with one shot!" That's the optimism, here comes the bomb shell

"But it can't work if we don't have the targeting data, that's why we need the resonator!" Bet he knows already he has to go into hostile territory to get that, but it's the only chance we have.

An explosion rattled his brains, just as he gave a pause in his words to let the gravity of the situation sink in, he could hear Fenix bellowing from his sandbags.

Maybe I ought to explain just how essential the resonator is and what we need it for, just to ensure that it gets priority "It'll map their tunnels, so that we can hit these sons of bitches where they live!"Hoffman was satisfied with the understanding he could see in the young Lieutenants eyes, nothing was more important right now than that resonator and that was how Hoffman needed Kim to think. This was their last chance

"We've lost contact with Alpha squad, Last transmission was from Embry Square, I want you to get in there...find those men and deploy that resonator" That was the job in a nut shell...easier said than done though

"Will we have air support?"

Air support...Ha the kid had to be joking, Hoffman found it painfully amusing, here he was sending Gears into a heavily hostile area with nothing but the men in his squad and the Lancer's they carried. Deep down it cut him up, he built himself on taking care of his Gears, given any other choice he'd be going with them.

"What! Are you kidding? You are the support son! Nemacysts are keeping our birds out of the area; you'll have to move in on foot!" He saw that hit Kim pretty hard...they weren't going to have any back up...it was just going to be them and the untold number of grubs between here and Alpha, but he had to offer some reassurance somehow, they weren't going to be totally alone.

"But the Lieutenant here will be feeding you Intel" He yelled over the gunfire with a gesture to Anya who was still crouched in the Raven

"Yes Sir, and the smart thing to do right now would be to leave" She had a point

"You, get it done!" That was it; last words with the Lieutenant, orders issued, and for humanities sake, get the job done

The gunfire had finally stopped, right on cue and he found he could actually hear himself think again, and also didn't need to yell his voice hoarse to be heard.

He couldn't leave it to chance though, he had to make sure Fenix wasn't going to pull any stunts and wasn't going to jeopardise the mission, he needed to see where his loyalties lied

"I expect you to give me 110% Fenix!" he better damn well give 110%

"I'm not doing this for you" Damn it like I really expected to get anything other than that from him, after what I did, but hell he's doing the job, it doesn't matter who he's doing it for, he could be doing it just to piss me off, doesn't matter as long as he gets the job done.


	4. Anya Stroud

Anya fiddled with the ear piece as she adjusted it in order for it to sit more comfortably in her ear; she was more used to the headset she usually adorned in CIC. Just as she became satisfied with it, it came alive with static and the voice of Lieutenant Kim entered her hearing. He was addressing Colonel Hoffman who sat opposite her though her channel was open and she could hear what he was saying

"Sir, we'll be leaving shortly...we're waiting for Private Santiago he has gone to retrieve Marcus Fenix"

The breath caught in her throat when she heard his name, though she managed to start breathing again as she heard Hoffman reply although clearly displeased.

"Repeat that Lieutenant"

"Private Santiago has gone to retrieve Marcus Fenix, sir"

"Copy that...We will rendezvous with you at Embry Square and you'll receive your orders"

It seemed she wasn't the only person who thought they'd heard wrong, but how could he still be alive? She remembered when he had been sentenced, it had broken her heart and the only comfort she had taken had been from the fact that he had managed to avoid a death sentence, but that didn't mean he couldn't die in the prison. Anya thought about that and felt a dull ache, she had thought he was dead...life expectancy for an inmate in the maximum security penitentiary was at best a few years, she had started grieving for him.

_Marcus_

It wasn't like he had given her any indication he was still alive, he had forbidden her from visiting him, she wanted to but she respected his wishes, she knew he probably had his reasons, though she wrote. Many letters had passed from her hands to be sent to him, letters in which she opened up to him more than she maybe should have...after all she didn't expect to be seeing him for forty years and that was basically life. Anya adjusted slowly in her seat so that she could better look out of the Raven, though she wasn't really taking in the passing landscape. What must he have thought of her from her letters? Did they embarrass him? She hadn't received any from him in return, not one for the many she wrote to him, and she had convinced herself that she had disturbed or angered him somehow. Those thoughts made her nervous and she started fiddling with her fingers without really noticing, internally she started berating herself, she needed to concentrate on the task ahead of her not lost in her own mind and memories.

Though her mind was determined and all she could think about was whether Dom would actually find Marcus alive, what condition would he be in if he was? What had he been through while he was there? She knew the locust had pretty much taken the prison over. Anya sighed inwardly as she tried to focus on how he had looked the last time she had seen him...it wasn't very hard she had called his image up in her mind's eye more times than she cared to count. She had always found him handsome, ever since she first saw him back when she was a cadet taking her role as a Comms officer for Operation Leveller, stealing glances at him while her Mother lectured her on what she needed to do.

Though she remembered it had been the events after Aspho that had brought herself, Dom and Marcus together as friends, Marcus and Dom received Embry Stars for their actions during the battle, Anya herself collected a Star for her Mother who had died blowing up an Asp anti-air vehicle. Of course the press had been very eager to hear her story and that of Marcus and Dom, but they had shielded her from the cameras and eager interviewers, which she had appreciated no end. While she thought on that her memories automatically brought her to the evening dinner she had been invited to by Adam Fenix, Marcus's Father; it had been an awkward night full of formality that even Marcus didn't seem comfortable with, it was clear that it was and wasn't where he belonged. The awkwardness of the meal hadn't been helped by Adam Fenix's perspectives on what they would do with their Embry Stars; he had suggested they go to a museum, she supposed that was just how people of his type did things, but no she had had enough of public grief, and it was all she had left of her mother, she wasn't going to part with it easily. That was the moment she became more confident...her mother wasn't there for her anymore she had to stand on her own two feet and stand up for herself and what she believed in, she wasn't going to be shy and quiet anymore.

Marcus had made sure she had gotten to her Mother's apartment after the meal; she'd had a few drinks along with everyone else there and Dom had offered to take her, though Marcus had insisted instead, offering his arm to her, since that evening something had grown between them. Anya poked her head out of the side of the Raven dragging herself back to the present. She noticed they were close to Embry Square now and she found that she really was nervous but even a little curious, as well as a whole array of other emotions that were pushing their way forward in her mind, but she pushed them back... she had a job to do.

Anya grabbed the small pile of papers that she had tucked in a compartment beside her; they were varying maps of the area which she would use to guide the squad until she got back to her monitors at Command. If they needed guidance before she got there she had to be able to give them the assistance they needed...their lives could depend on it. At last their Raven landed with a little jolt, and Colonel Hoffman got up and ducked out of the side to stand and wait for Delta's chopper. While they waited she continued to check and recheck the maps, but caught a glimpse of the Colonel as he paced around outside. She was distracted by her maps for a moment when she tried to make sense of the Colonels actions. She knew the man well, she had been working with him for the majority of the Locust/human war, deciding to leave Marcus in the prison had been something she would consider out of character. Anya didn't allow herself to ponder on it too long and returned her concentration on the maps in her hand.

Ten minutes later and she heard the sound of another Raven, even over the noise of her own she could hear it and her heart rate quickened...would he really be there? Or was she about to find out that she had started grieving for good reason? Delta's Raven landed and she realised she had actually stood up, maps forgotten as she clamped her eyes on the helicopter, it landed and then a figure ducked out and under the rotors to come face to face with Colonel Hoffman. It was him she could tell by the way he moved and the fact she had caught a glimpse of a bandanna...he was the only man she knew who wore one. The conversation that passed between the Colonel and Marcus was inaudible for her and she expected the others as well, though she knew from the body language of the two men that they were going to be at odds with each other for some time.

Colonel Hoffman took Lieutenant Kim in order to give him his orders, she already knew what they were and she had all of the information she needed in order to guide them through it safely. Something blipped behind her and she turned to check the little monitor in the Raven only to notice that a group of Locust were heading for their location. She decided she had better inform the Colonel, though she decided she would get out of the Raven to give her message, she really wanted to check that her eyes weren't lying to her, that and for some reason she wanted to make sure Marcus knew she was there.

"Sensors are picking up enemy movement...sir, close by"

She took a glance at Marcus only to find he was already looking at her, for a second their eyes met holding each other's gaze before it registered in their minds who they were looking at. He really was there, he looked tired she thought to herself, and there were more lines in his face than she remembered, but the most prominent thing that caught her attention was a long jagged scar down the right side of his face. The expression he held interested her, for once it was oddly readable and she could see the surprise there, though there was something else she couldn't quite place. Before she could even try to place it however, a sound caught her ears and she turned in the direction it had come from. Just as she spotted a locust drone run across past some pillars, gunfire exploded around Colonel Hoffman and Lieutenant Kim, with additional bullets clanging off of the Raven around her. Ducking quickly she jumped back up into the cover of the Raven unable to do anything but watch the Gears she would soon be in charge of fight off the assault.

The locust drones were grimly determined, it amazed her just how frenzied they were in battle, even now they were continuing to stream down the stairs despite the onslaught of Lancer ammunition they were being greeted with, not for the first time she wondered just what their motives were. As she watched Colonel Hoffman debriefed the Lieutenant taking shelter behind some sandbags, in the corner of her eye she saw Marcus stand up and fire across the stairs, there was anger there or something else, something he needed to get out of his system. An explosion flashed and she instinctively tucked herself back into the safety of the helicopter, and she stayed there until she heard Colonel Hoffman refer to her.

"But the Lieutenant here will be feeding you Intel"

"Yes Sir and the smart thing to do right now would be to leave" She replied taking a cautious glance out of the Raven

It was a true statement, but she knew it was also a light hearted one...she couldn't be heard to be nervous or anxious when it came down to communicating with Gears, she had to be the voice of calm and stability, she was there to guide them through the crap and get them on the other side in one piece. It was a role she took very seriously indeed, she knew the cost if she failed and failure wasn't an option for her anymore, she had learnt that the hard way, as all CIC officers did.

At last the gunfire stopped and her ears stopped ringing, she watched as Colonel Hoffman marched over to Marcus, again she couldn't hear what was being said but it was obvious that whatever had transpired irritated the both of them equally. She hoped that they might eventually gain a level of understanding between them but she knew it would take time, that's even if Delta managed to succeed in their mission. No, she knew they would succeed, they had to... humanity was holding its breath this was their last chance, she wasn't sure if there would be anymore after this one.


End file.
